Synopsis

Working at an agency owned by your father, seven new idols await. They are all part of an idol unit IDOLiSH7, and each of them have unique personalities. It is your task to manage them. In order to achieve the same goals, as manager and idols together, you gather the seven ununified hearts and aim for the top.

IDOLiSH7 on the surface seems like your run of the mill idol anime, and it opens in that way in the first episode for sure. But one of the reasons why I rate this so highly, is due to the fact that this show is actually both unique and enjoyable within it's genre.

(Note: At the writing of this review, I have seen 10 episodes - hopefully will get a chance to update this once the series finish airing).

Story: 8/10
Having played the mobile game for over a year and have dabbled into English translations of the game - this story is incredibly faithful to
the game.

One of the things that I especially enjoyed about the story is in it's realistic plot line - we see a group of guys who are looking to succeed in the idol industry and are failing along the way, but are doing their best to achieve their goals.

However, I criticise on the pacing - there are some bits that were too slow for my liking, and other bits that were too fast. I feel that the pacing might be a budget issue due to the fact that these parts usually have a narrator voicing what is happening/has happened, the lack of scenes and major use of stills.

Overall, as an idol series - the story is incredibly unique as rather than just seeing them succeed from the get-go, we are following them throughout their struggles and wins in their journey.

Art: 9/10
Absolutely love love love the art! Animation is pretty top quality - really impressed with the quality. Some video game to anime adaptions lack the quality transition within the animation, but this show definitely does not. In fact, I would even say that the animation has exceeded my expectations.

One of the things I really enjoy about this is in it's use of normal animation style - transitioning to CG (for the dance numbers) and the use of chibi style. At times, this sort of style can be done incredibly poorly. But in the case of IDOLiSH7, I think it's used to it's maximum potential as it brings out the quality in storyline and characterisation.

Sound: 10/10
Not going to lie, I got into the IDOLiSH7 fandom because of the top tier voice actors. I'm very biased in this sense because these voice actors are veterans, they portray their characters brilliantly in this series and the songs are awesome.

One of the things that particularly surprised me was the BGM that is not used in the game - there's one of them that when I heard it was like "no way, this is awesome!" because the new background tracks that they've made for the anime separate from the game is heaps cool and really adds to the whole enjoyability of this show.

Character: 8/10
Once again, great characterisation that is faithful to the game. As the game lacks the animation, it would have been tricky to portray these complex characters in the animation.

However, all the characters shine out and are awesome to watch. Loving the way they're going into everyone's backgrounds and problems. It's very true to the game and realistic to the overall plot.

Another thing I'm loving is the side characters. A lot of mob characters are unmemorable and utterly useless in the development of a show. In this case, they've used the same "fan" characters throughout the series in accordance with how the group is performing and changing. This factor really adds to the impact that the show has with us viewers because we can see ourselves as these fans who are portraying our feelings onscreen.

The only thing that irks me is Tamaki - he is probably a character that has decreased in my ranks going from the game to this anime. I don't believe it's a characterisation issue, but I am docking my points based on him and my biased annoyance towards how his portrayal.

Enjoyment/Overall: 9/10

Love it - I don't count many idol animes that have made me get teary, but this one has. No spoilers but one of the episodes was absolutely heartbreaking and awesome to watch.

If you're into other idol animes and keen for an easy watch with good songs/dance numbers, please watch this.